My approach to
counseling has evolved over time and continues to evolve. It reflects
many gifts and wisdom from all of my teachers. In addition to my training
and experience in psychology, I combine spiritual and philosophical influences.
The approaches I typically employ include cognitive behavioral, psychodynamic,
Jungian and other humanistic approaches.

There is not a single
counseling approach that works for everyone. I tailor my approach to meet
people where they are, honoring each person's place along life's pathway.

There are three basic
levels of work.

When people are in crises, they need
directives in what to do which includes resource utilization to resolve
the crises.

Some people feels like they are tend to
repeat the same problems. These people need a supportive cognitive
behavioral approach.

Others engage in therapy to find and
develop their hidden potentials to enrich their lives.

Initially, much of my
theoretical orientation was primarily reflective of the works of Carl Rogers,
Karen Horney, William Glasser, and Alfred Adler. Through the years my
orientation has changed to more of a cognitive behavioral/solution focused
approach. This cognitive behavioral approach is reflective of the
writings of Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck and David Burns. With couples and
families, I use family systems therapy for resolution of presenting
problems. I do not believe that I have discarded my past
viewpoints. I have modified them to address clinical needs of the
diversity of clients I have encountered.

I view humans as beings
who are that that they might enjoy life. This statement indicates that
all persons were meant to have fulfilling lives free from the emotional
problems that all too often cause mental illness. All persons have the
right to intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual actualization, as
they desire, without all of the constraints that society places upon
them. I do not advocate that society should abandon norms. Persons
are responsible for their existence, being free to choose. They are
responsible for the consequences of their actions. Each person carves
his/her destiny and essence, his/her inner being the product of his/her
actions. The way a person lives their life determines what he/she
is. Existence does not occur in isolation but in the interaction with
others in the world. The existence of persons is an active ongoing
process where persons define their being. Persons are not static but dynamic;
they shape their being through actions and interactions with others in the
world.

Both genetics and the
sum of all life experiences since birth determine individual's behavioral
dispositions. Throughout life, we are dependent upon the environment and
significant others. As children, we need nurturing, guidance, protection,
and support. As adults, other people and daily events around us challenge
us to use our mental faculties to adapt. If we are deprived of certain
types of stimulation, we lose our capacity to adapt. A reduced capacity
to adapt increases our risk of developing mental illness. I acknowledge
that persons have two basic needs: The need to love and be loved and the
need to feel that we are worthwhile to ourselves and to others. If
persons do not have these basic needs fulfilled, they will have trouble with the
ongoing stream of challenging life events.

For persons to fulfill
their needs they first do so in a way not to deprive others of fulfilling their
needs. Ideally persons must be emotionally involved in leisure time
activities with significant others. For optimal self-confidence, persons
must maintain satisfactory standards of behavior. To do so they must
learn to correct themselves when they do wrong and to credit themselves when we
do right. If people do not actively strive to improve their conduct when it is
below their standards, they will experience feelings of shame and/or
guilt. With these feelings of shame and guilt can come feelings of
isolation or abandonment from others.

Our present culture
imposes multiple stresses, which hamper growth. Our culture also provides
false quick solutions that are appealing and deceptively simple to follow.
Following these solutions can result in an intensification of
pathology. They take the form of an abandonment of who we are now for the
sake of pursuing fantasies of what we could become. All of us have the
capacity to develop our potentials, but questions remain. Are these
imagined potentials realistic? Frequent re-assessment of self is
necessary to support ongoing changes throughout the life span.

An important aspect of
my theoretical position is that persons define reality based on their life
experiences. It is this personal perception of reality, which governs
behavior independent of the facts as others see them. Perceptions of
reality are based upon the persons' view of themselves, the world in which they
live, and the meanings events have for them. Everything a person does is
reasonable and necessary at the time the person is doing it. People
perform the best they can under a given set of circumstances, if persons knew
in a moment how to behave more effectively they would do so.

It is my position that
the mind and body has an interactive physiological effect. Andrews and
Karlins (1975) have succinctly summarized my viewpoint. "Every
change in the physiological state is accompanied by an appropriate change in
the mental emotional state, conscious or unconscious, and every change in the
conscious or unconscious state is accompanied by an appropriate change in the
physiological state." It is my opinion that the interactive
physiological effective I have briefly mentioned above provides foundational
support both for the effectiveness of psychotherapy and psychopharmacology.

I recognize the
importance of being sensitive to both nonverbal and verbal communication.
During graduate school, various inservices, and other CEU events I have been
told that over 80% of all communication is nonverbal. The other 20% is
verbal. This has made me acutely aware of the need to listen to voice intonation.
As a therapist I note body posturing, hand positioning, subtle facial
expressions, eye contact, and observable muscle tension in face, neck, arms,
and hands. In addition, when I greet clients for the first time I shake
their hand and introduce myself as Dr. Thomas. During those momentary
seconds of shaking their hand, I note their hand temperature. There have
been those instances where extremely cold hands were indicative of high
anxiety. This has occurred even when these clients were attempting to
present themselves as easy going and relaxed.

When a client presents
for therapy their immediate, present needs are considered. If clients are
manifesting cognitive distortions, negative self-talk, they are confronted to
consider their self-defeating belief structure. Clients receive an
evaluation of their cognitive distortions. Clients are directed to
consider the impact of these distortions on their daily life. I use
confrontation to enable clients realize discrepancies in their behaviors. These
discrepancies could involve a clash between the client's emotions and
cognition, verbal expression and self-awareness, and point out discrepancies in
clients thinking and actions. If clients are acutely experiencing grief
then those persons need supportive therapy while being directed to work through
their grief. Support groups for those experiencing bereavement issues are
considered as an adjunct to therapy. For clients with addictions, therapy
needs to be confrontational and educational. Again, support groups such
as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Gambling Anonymous groups are
recommended.

For therapy to be
effective both Long Term Goals and Short Term Goals must be defined.
These goals are included in the treatment plan. Objectives for these goals
must state the period in which the goals will be accomplished. For
example, a Long Term Goal could be: John will reduce his overall level,
intensity and frequency of anxiety so that his overall functioning is not
impaired. A Short-term goal for John could be identify one irrational
thought per week. After the irrational though is identified than the
client is challenged replace that thought with a more rational thought.
Treatment plans must be reviewed and revised at least once a month to determine
if objectives have been met. Revision allows additional objectives to be
added in the event that other client issues surface during the course of
therapy.

Focus of therapy is on
the present. The primary objective is how to resolve current
problems. Past events are visited only in the context of how they impact
the present. If clients persist in bringing up past events, they are told
that their past cannot be changed. But they can change their present evaluations
of their past. Dr. Thomas does NOT advocate spending numerous
therapy sessions dwelling on the past and old memories for the sake of
recovery.

In summary, I have presented my evolving theoretical
orientation in a condensed format. A non-condensed format would be the
length of a book. I outlined my evolving theoretical orientation that I
use with clients.